Danish Yacht Taken by Pirates

[goboatingnow]

possibly we should be investigating more throughly the brother inlaws living in western countries,with access to internet blogs and chat forums

Lets leave the conspiracy theorys out of it Atoll, I think youll find the internet stretches far wider then "western countries"

Time for serious action now, This has gone on way too long now

Dave

[Juniper]

remember most of the perpertrators have not had the benefit of an education system in the last 20 years.


Just remember there is a big difference between uneducated and
unintelligent

[Bash]

Originally Posted by ude123

I hope those on this and all forums try and refrain from posting any information.

I could not disagree more. This forum provides a service to the cruising community by promoting an exchange of quality information about most facets of the cruising experience. If there are dangers out there, CF--more than any other source of information throughout the world--is where they are discussed.

When the British yacht was captured by pirates a while back, most of us were shocked. We'd assumed that the Somali piracy phenomenon would always stay focused on tankers and freighters. Now, with two major incidents occurring to cruising yachts within the last week, as a community we recognize that there has been a significant shift in the piracy issue. This has been the first time that yachties were killed, and now the first time that children have been abducted as well. Word of this needs to go out throughout the cruising community, and this forum is one of the major ways that it will get out there. That information necessarily includes the location where yachts are being captured, so that other cruisers will understand the scope of the problem.

Unless I miss my guess, there is little that this forum can do to assist the cruisers already being held captive. However, we can do a great deal of good by getting the word out to yachts planning their passages, not to mention currently en route, that a cruising itinerary that may have been considered safe a few months ago may no longer be advisable.

Suppressing such information will only play into the hands of the pirates.

[estarzinger]

I am surprised at the number of cruising boats that are 'publicly' reporting their positions in the pirate zone - there are 9 boats shown on one popular site and 4 on another all right in the pirate bullseye. I guess these guys departed before the quest was captured and did not take the situation seriously enough. But I would suggest for anyone thinking about trying to get thru to turn off your automatic e-mail and blog position reporting! Probably the pirates are not looking at these sites but it can not be helpful.

Also that's more boats in total than I would have guessed - 13 reporting (to two sites) at one time, lets say just as a guess 1/3 are reporting = 40 underway right now thru the pirate zone! I hope and pray they rest will stay safe.

[RickD]

Not surprised at all.

Remember folks like to SHARE their adventures. We all do it from time to time in various fashions.

Has anyone considered the possibility that this boat didn't KNOW what happened to the Quest? They were on the downside of their cruise, due to be home in a few months, perhaps they made a decision to go north instead of around Cape Horn? Perhaps they had a pressing need to go home sooner?

Perhaps, like many people, they were actually out of touch with the news and only were concerned with the weather reports and getting through the next leg of the trip.

Most people, my friends, aren't like everyone here. In general they ignore the rest of the world and ignore the news. Most of them can't give you the geography of this.

Many people I met awhile back while out in the Caribbean just DIDN'T LISTEN to the news at ALL while they were there.

[goboatingnow]

This recent hostage taking must be related to the S/Y Quest.

Heres a list of yachts actually taken

April 2009 - Tanit ( France) , rescued by french forces
Oct 2009 - Lynn Rival - UK , crew released 1 year later
Nov 2010 - Choizil - SA , skipper rescued, 2 crew still in captivity
feb -2011 - Quest - US, 4 crew murdered
Feb - 2011 - ING . danish

Theres been a remarkable upswing against yachts in the last three months, ( I admit I hadnt heard of the SA boat).

I wonder whats going on. Yachts are not normal pirate targets, ( lots of hassle and low expectation of money, also tugs heartstrings)yet almost one a month since Nov. Is this because the pirates, as a result of increased enforcement and hence loosing some of their numbers are now looking at human shields or something. ( or bargaining chips)

ALso is it a conincidence that the Royal Danish Navy recently destoyed a pirate skiff. ( and they were the ones that spotted Quest)

Dave

[RickD]

I think you will find that the pirates don't really understand this. A boat is a boat and a yacht is usually considered to be owned by rich people.

A long, long time ago it was considered "Silly" by some Americans to be considered as "targets" in foreign countries too.

Just as an example, Americans traveling to certain places in the Caribbean can and will be targeted by the Russians for intelligence collection. It's a fact of life these days. And it's TRUE. A few years ago even I wouldn't have thought of it.

But I know it's true.

Why target a yacht? Just because they are pretty boats, usually expensive and thinking like the criminal "What the heck? It's got people on it that probably have a damned sight more money than I have!"

So - no reason really at all.

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by RickD

Has anyone considered the possibility that this boat didn't KNOW what happened to the Quest?

I strongly suspect this to be the case. They certainly did not mention it or show any concern at all in their blog. Most of the vessels underway right now would have departed before the Quest was taken and many will not have heard about it.

That said, we have all known about the pirate situation here for several years - it is MUCH worse this season, but was bad enough last season.

The ING routing was much more dangerous than Quest's. Quest's route would probably have worked and made some logical sense last year, but ING was sailing right into the mouth of the lion. However, I suspect they just figured based on previous year's statistics that their odds were very good (say about like the odds of a violent attack in St Lucia or Antigua) and to 'go for it'. Unfortunately the odds have gotten much worse this year.

[goboatingnow]

Quote:
Originally Posted by RickD
Has anyone considered the possibility that this boat didn't KNOW what happened to the Quest?

I strongly suspect this to be the case. They certainly did not mention it or show any concern at all in their blog. Most of the vessels underway right now would have departed before the Quest was taken and many will not have heard about it.

That said, we have all known about the pirate situation here for several years - it is MUCH worse this season, but was bad enough last season.

The ING routing was much more dangerous than Quest's. Quest's route would probably have worked and made some logical sense last year, but ING was sailing right into the mouth of the lion. However, I suspect they just figured based on previous year's statistics that their odds were very good (say about like the odds of a violent attack in St Lucia or Antigua) and to 'go for it'. Unfortunately the odds have gotten much worse this year.

I dont know evans, of course ING may have known nothing about QUEST, but I suspect that ING may be used to try and get the QUEST pirates back from the US. I strongly feel that they went "looking" for a yacht.

Dave

[Bash]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

The ING routing was much more dangerous than Quest's. Quest's route would probably have worked and made some logical sense last year, but ING was sailing right into the mouth of the lion. However, I suspect they just figured based on previous year's statistics that their odds were very good (say about like the odds of a violent attack in St Lucia or Antigua) and to 'go for it'. Unfortunately the odds have gotten much worse this year.

It's possible that this route was on purpose. Some governments have been urging yachts to stay directly in the shipping lanes, since these lanes are being patrolled by the international flotilla of warships currently keeping watch.

[RickD]

I have a suggestion, as stupid as it might sound.....

But given this situation.... and all these folks are in the "Jaws of the Lion", perhaps it would be prudent to attempt to let each and every one of those vessels know what is happening by an alternate method.

They are posting on blogs, likely have email and collect it through sailmail or airmail - wouldn't it be a good ideas to take some active action to WARN them of what happened in case they HAVE missed the news?

If anyone here has direct HF contact with any of them - it wouldn't hurt to try to raise them on the HF, get them an email, call a satellite phone or post an urgent comment on a blog (I'm assuming they can read the comments, but likely not).

[ude123]

Originally Posted by Bash

I could not disagree more. This forum provides a service to the cruising community by promoting an exchange of quality information about most facets of the cruising experience. If there are dangers out there, CF--more than any other source of information throughout the world--is where they are discussed.

When the British yacht was captured by pirates a while back, most of us were shocked. We'd assumed that the Somali piracy phenomenon would always stay focused on tankers and freighters. Now, with two major incidents occurring to cruising yachts within the last week, as a community we recognize that there has been a significant shift in the piracy issue. This has been the first time that yachties were killed, and now the first time that children have been abducted as well. Word of this needs to go out throughout the cruising community, and this forum is one of the major ways that it will get out there. That information necessarily includes the location where yachts are being captured, so that other cruisers will understand the scope of the problem.

Unless I miss my guess, there is little that this forum can do to assist the cruisers already being held captive. However, we can do a great deal of good by getting the word out to yachts planning their passages, not to mention currently en route, that a cruising itinerary that may have been considered safe a few months ago may no longer be advisable.

Suppressing such information will only play into the hands of the pirates.

Bash, I am not saying to not get the word out that there are pirates attacking yachts in that vicinity, I am saying not to post specifics(coordinates, military troop movements, etc). That's all. Why do cruisers on here need the specifics about this incident while it is still a very fluid situation? Every cruiser in the area knows that piracy is a real threat and can look at past coordinates of attacks to access their route. An ongoing situation does not change the threat in any way, it is still a very real threat to any vessel at any coordinates in the area. If you look at the attacks in the last year or so you will see that there is no real rhyme or reason to the position of the attack. I don't understand how giving any specifics on this site will help any cruisers out there trying to determine their route through this area? I would hope that cruisers in that area are getting better information than from CF on how/where/when to cruise through this area. I see no upside to posting specific information, only a potential downside. Again, sounding the horn and letting cruisers in the area know about the generalities of an attack that is ongoing is fine, just not specifics.

[RickD]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

I dont know evans, of course ING may have known nothing about QUEST, but I suspect that ING may be used to try and get the QUEST pirates back from the US. I strongly feel that they went "looking" for a yacht.

Dave

A trade perhaps?

Let's trade this yacht full of people for our brothers you took away.... maybe.

[rowingdude]

Would it be feasible to affix pertinent information regarding the immediate danger to both life and limb on weather faxes specifically in that area?

[goboatingnow]

But given this situation.... and all these folks are in the "Jaws of the Lion", perhaps it would be prudent to attempt to let each and every one of those vessels know what is happening by an alternate method.

Yes, but what good does it do. They undoutably know the risks when setting off, subsequently telling them that a yacht has been pirated, when they are out there isnt much help.

Dave